Senor Litto Gomez

Litto is easily one of the top 3 blenders making cigars today.  His limited editions and small-batch cigars are always unique, different and down-right tasty!

I had the privilege to correspond with Litto Gomez of La Flor Dominicana a couple of weeks back.  I had e-mailed him to inquire over a few more details to his new El Museo charity cigar.  I also asked if I could shoot him a couple of questions for my blog and he graciously agreed.

Zen: Senor Gomez, thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions.  What brought you into the cigar business?

Litto Gomez: When you don’t have a formal education or a rich father you have to make your own path in life, in the process you find yourself at crossroads, then you make your decision on which direction you are going to go.

I made the decision to get in the cigar industry without any analysis of what I was getting into. It made no sense to anybody our chances of failure were about 99.9999999%, but something almost magic  happened… I just happen to [have]  fallen in love with tobacco and everything involved in what I was doing. The rest is history.

Zen: La Flor started out with more mild-medium cigars like the Reserva Especial, 2000 Series and the Premium Line.  What steered you to try more full-bodied cigars such as the Ligero, Double Ligero and the LG Diez?

LG: The first line was the premium line in 1994, then came the Reserva, later in 1997 we released the 2000 series.

The change in the later blends came because of my own taste preferences, I started to blend fuller bodied cigars for myself and then I realized that it was unfair that I smoke something different than what our consumers where smoking so we released the rest of the lines on a more full body style until today blends that are probably the fullest bodied blends in the market.

Zen: I am a huge fan of your limited release cigars such as the Salamone, Los Perfectos and Limitada Series.  Do you have any plans for any more small batch cigars this year?

LG: I will always have those [LEs], that’s one of the advantages of growing your own tobacco.

Zen: I have heard some about your special charity cigar the El Museo, can you tell us more? (Here’s more on the El Museo)

LG: The El Museo is a very special cigar, in fact the whole project was special, it will be a real collector’s piece. The cigars will be for sale at Christy’s and Barney’s of New York and also at fine tobacconists around the country.

LFD El Museo

Zen: Do you have any other new lines or sizes you plan on releasing in 2009?

LG: Yes, but only in limited editions.

Zen: My home tobacconist is Empire Cigars, Home of the LFD Cheroot, which is a huge favorite among the local

THE Cheroot

clientele. Can you tell us a little more of the origin of the cigar, as I understand you originally passed this out yourself at LFD cigar Events?

LG: The Cheroots (ice pick) are a cigar that I will smoke some times and will also make for David Savona of Cigar Aficionado. One day La Flor was doing an event in a store in Connecticut and the cigars for the event were lost by UPS and Savona offered to bring the Cheroots he had to pass at the event and Hal Rubin [of Empire Cigars] happened to be at the event and he loved them.

Some time later I started to get orders for boxes of Cheroots from a  customer of ours, of course I never new who was the consumer buying  them, months later I meet Hal and he told me he was the one. At that time he was a retailer and he asked me to ship the cheroots to his store, I was pretty [amused].

Zen: A LFD has an unmistakable flavor, what is it about your cigars that set them apart from the rest?

LG: 70 % of the tobacco we use in our blends comes from our farm that means that nobody can have the same tobacco we use because I am not selling it baby!

Zen: I have noticed a new cigar band on the La Flor line, what brought about the change?

LFD Double Ligero w/ new band design

LG: We wanted a new look, a little cleaner and without the flower. Some of our fans though it was a little too girlish.

Zen: The Chisel shape is one of the most innovative changes I have ever seen to a cigar, how did you come up with this concept?

The Chisel

LG: I was driving to the factory one morning and chewing on my cigar, when I realized that, I pulled out of my mouth and looked at the tip and it was just like a chisel, at that time, instantly [I] decided to make that shape. It was a beautiful thing.  I love my industry and what I do.

I’d like to thank Senor Gomez for his time, and most importantly, wish for his and his family’s continued success and innovation in the fields and factories!

Zen: Can you tell us why the name “El Titan de Bronze”?

El Titan de Bronze: El Titan De Bronze was a nick name given to Antonio Maceo, a General from Cuba, that fought against Spain.  He was given this name for his bravery and bronze skin color. So that being said, we chose this name for the company because it is different from all the other companies out there.

Zen: What is your favorite size in one of your lines?

ETdB: My favorite size would have to be the robusto and coronita in the Redemption line.

Zen: What qualities do you think makes a memorable cigar?

ETdB: What makes a cigar memorable would be one that doesn’t start off bitter, nice draw, and flavor profiles change as you smoke the cigar to the end.

Zen: What do you think you and El Titan de Bronze can bring to the cigar industry?

ETdB: What I think we bring to the industry is that we are small located in Little Havana , Miami where we solely produce all of our cigars here locally, and haven’t forgotten where we came from.

Zen: What is one cigar, other than your own, that you also like to smoke (if any)?

ETdB: Besides my own cigars I enjoy smoking Pete Jonson’s cigars, Padilla’s , Padron’s, and EO Brands (601).

Zen: Do you have anything new up your sleeve for 2008-2009?

ETdB: For 2008-2009 we are looking into making something very limited where only a handful of retailers will have access to.

Thanks again to Willy Herrera and the guys at El Titan de Bronze for their time and generosity.  I hope to hear and smoke more from them in the future! 

Mr. Luis Molina of Molina Cigar Company who makes the Devil’s Weed Cigar graciously agreed to be my first guest.  Mr. Molina, thanks for taking the time to answer some of my questions.

Zen: What got you into the cigar business?

Luis Molina: I smoked my first cigar when I was 16.  I instantly fell in love with the handmade cigar and its history.  After college I worked part-time in a cigar shop thinking it would be temporary, but after a month, I made a personal commitment to make a career in the cigar industry as I could not see myself doing anything else.

Zen: What is your favorite size in your line?

LM: I love the Queen Bess, our churchill.

Zen: What qualities do you look for in a cigar?

LM: For me, all cigars have to be clean.  I like mild to very strong depending on my mood, but I do not want a cigar to leave a bitter and harsh finish.

Zen: What do you think Devil’s Weed and Molina Cigar Company can bring to the cigar industry?

LM: I simply want to spread my intense passion for this industry to all smokers and non-smokers alike.  I love the history and the romance of the handmade cigar and that is why we chose the name Devil’s Weed.  Using an ironic device, it is an homage to an historical reference regarding tobacco and it is a tribute to its history during the turbulent times and its glory days.

Zen: What is one cigar, other than your own, that you also like to smoke (if any)?

LM: I love smoking my fellow peers’ cigars so to pick one other than my own is difficult.  There are so many that are incredible.  I just smoked a La Aurora Cien Anos Torpedo that was aged over 2 years that was so rich yet clean.  I was blown away actually and it was quite tasty.  I love Cabaiguan, Liga Privada, Davidoff and VSG as well.

Zen: Do you have anything new up your sleeve for 2008-2009?

LM: We are adding a few more sizes to our Devil’s Weed Cabinet Selection (which includes a true “delicados extra” or lancero as it is commonly known now) and we are working on our next Devil’s Weed line which will be a more full-bodied cigar in the medium-to-strong category.

Thanks again to Mr. Molina.  I look forward to more from Molina Cigar Company and Devil’s Weed!